University of Rochester
OP-6: Food and Beverage Purchasing

Examples of items purchased include: the majority of baked items come from local independently owned bakeries, dairy from a local cooperative, local distributor (Headwater Foods) deals directly with local, independently owned farms and businesses for meats, produce, additional baked items.

Vendors both approach and are approached by the University based on their sustainable practices and business ethics. UR carefully researches vendors to ensure their claims of sustainability are sound. Additionally, many vendors are organic certified by New York State. Our driving goal in purchasing is to find quality solutions first, from within New York State, and second, within a 250 mile radius of our campus. We feel that these tenets represent our responsibility to supporting our local economy and also afford us the freshest and highest quality products. Beyond that, we also work with local vendors to let their brands live on our campus. From local coffee roasters to sushi vendors to cheesecake and cookies, these local brands live on campus as they do in their own locations, educating our students about the surrounding area and encouraging them to develop a relationship with a local brand. For items like fish and seafood, rather than using our broadline provider exclusively, we have developed a relationship with a local partner that sources sustainably caught seafood and delivers it from catch to cook in 72 hours.

Dining Services partners with its vendors to track each purchase, where the product was produced/ grown and manufactured. The vendors supply Dining Services with a pruchase report each semester breaking down the University's purchases by location, detailing where the product is from and how it is distributed. Dining Services uses this information to break down by category what is locally gown or manufactured. The University of Rochester just partnered with FarmLogix to help expedite and clean up the process. Their mission is similar to the University's and they have the ability to make the process easier for the University and supply greater detail.

We are committed to working with like-minded vendors and brands, so the majority of coffee served on campus is Fair-Trade and sustainably produced and sourced. From our Starbucks location to our partnership with local vendors like McCullagh Coffee, Joe Bean Roasters, The Coffee Connection and Java that have built their businesses on sustainable sourcing and operation. We are currently in the process of attaining our Marine Stewardship Council certification and are aligning with our broadline provider to be successful in this venture. We have begun discussions with a student group that is interested in working with us on the Real Food Campus Commitment and in evaluating the guidelines of that program, we feel that we will score favorably. We are also investigating both Fair Trade Campus and Green Restaurant Certifications for our locations.